Neuropsychological Findings in a Case of Punding Before and After Cessation of Pramipexole

Abstract

Clinical neuropsychologists are well trained to recognize neurological and psychiatric conditions that impact behavior, but tend to have less familiarity with iatrogenic consequences of various pharmacological treatments. One such consequence is the development of an impulse control disorder (ICD), which can result from treatment with dopamine agonists. Knowledge of ICDs is important because they can mimic obsessive-compulsive disorder, mania, or the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia. The current case examines a patient who developed punding, which is a type of ICD characterized by repetitive behavior, as a result of treatment with pramipexole. Neuropsychological testing was conducted before and after cessation of pramipexole, and showed that the removal of the medication was consistent with improvement in frontal-subcortical-mediated cognitive functions. Findings suggest that neuropsychologists should be familiar with the symptoms of ICDs and incorporate such knowledge into their case conceptualizations.

Keywords:

• Pramipexole
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cognition
• Impulse control disorders.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The author has no financial, commercial, legal, or professional conflicts to disclose with this study.